Quick Pan-Fried Potatoes with Thyme Recipe

Having super quick dinners under your belt is a great asset for any mom. Let me give you one more 30 minute meal your kids will love!

We’ve all been there. 5:30pm. Standing at the fridge. Staring at the stuff inside (that may or may not be green and growing) wondering what in the world to make for dinner. My kids are on the other side of the fridge door, probably acting like they have never eaten before in their lives. (Throwing things may be involved.) I may or may not bark, “Get out of the kitchen!” and then go back to spacing out into the mostly empty fridge. What to make? Do I just order pizza?

For me, the fact that I have this option is a particular blessing of an inner-city homestead. I have the option to grow my own pizza toppings… to lovingly pick peppers and tomatoes and handcraft the crust, sauce, and yes – even cheese, right in my own kitchen….. OR I could order a pizza at a moments notice from the place down the street and check off the box marked ‘dinner’ on my to do list with the ease of $30 and my kids are happy either way!

“Yay! Mom rocks. We get pizza for dinner.”

I have done this. Quite a few times. It’s survival of the fittest. And my kids outnumber me 4 to 1.

Making a lightning quick dinner that doesn’tinvolve junk food is the hard part. I often feel like the man in the middle of the ocean with all the options out there.

“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.”

This could easily describe the current food climate. ‘Quick and easy’ has become synonymous with ‘JUNK’. And more and more we are finding that ‘junk’ is to blame for everything from childhood obesity to colon cancer. But even with all that info out there, many a good mom has found themselves grabbing something from the dollar menu just to get something into their kids before whatever activity they have next.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

The recipe I have to share with you below was developed by my daughter and I to create a killer breakfast one morning. I was AMAZED at how fast it went together and how yummy it was. We now have put it in the dinner rotation because it is quick, easy, filling and all whole foods. It’s the recipe in my arsenal for ‘before youth group but after music lessons’. It’s a great alternative to the normal junk run… plus, it involves potatoes. As all good ‘fast food’ should. *wink wink* I hope you enjoy it!

Delicious and quick side dish to throw together for dinner, that's also healthy and kid-friendly!

Author: Valerie Rose from Collecting the Moments

Recipe type: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

2 pounds of red or white baby potatoes

1 lg onion

butter

water

2 Tbs (or so) lemon juice

salt

Thyme (dried or fresh)

Instructions

Slice your potatoes ¼ - ½ inch thick and place them in a bowl of water.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Let them soak while you are slice the onion and get everything else ready (Somehow this action makes them not stick during cooking. I don’t know how, but it works. Magically perfect potatoes every time. So don’t skip it.)

Get a large pan good and hot. Add 3 tablespoons of butter and let it melt.

Add the onion and sauté until them until they start to go clear.

Grab handfuls of the potatoes out of the water and set them into the pan in large batches. Don’t worry if water gets in the pan. Steam is good for cooking! Mix so the onions are integrated into the potatoes.

Place a lid on the pan and allow the steam to do it’s job for a few minutes.

Every few minutes, lift the lid and stir from the bottom with a spatula so you are grabbing all the potatoes on the bottom and lifting them to the top as you toss. If they start to stick, add more butter.

Test them with a fork and when they are done add about 1 teaspoon of dried thyme or 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme and salt to taste.

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Slice your potatoes 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick and place them in a bowl of water.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Let them soak while you are slice the onion and get everything else ready (Somehow this action makes them not stick during cooking. I don’t know how, but it works. Magically perfect potatoes every time. So don’t skip it.)

Get a large pan good and hot. Add 3 tablespoons of butter and let it melt.

Add the onion and sauté until them until they start to go clear.

Grab handfuls of the potatoes out of the water and set them into the pan in large batches. Don’t worry if water gets in the pan. Steam is good for cooking! Mix so the onions are integrated into the potatoes.

Place a lid on the pan and allow the steam to do it’s job for a few minutes.

Every few minutes, lift the lid and stir from the bottom with a spatula so you are grabbing all the potatoes on the bottom and lifting them to the top as you toss. If they start to stick, add more butter.

Test them with a fork and when they are done add about 1 teaspoon of dried thyme or 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme and salt to taste.

Valerie Rose, creator of the blog Collecting the Moments… one by one spends her days cooking, gardening, and homeschooling her 4 children on her urban homestead in rainy western Washington. With camera in hand, she is constantly collecting the moments of life and encouraging others to do the same with activities and inspiration for a simple, creative household. You can find her on Pinterest, Facebook and on her homeschooling blog where she documents all the fun learning her kids do day to day.